Showing papers in "The Geographical Journal in 1986"

The Scramble for Africa: Inherited Political Boundaries

Abstract: THE INHERITED POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY of Africa is as great an impediment to independent development as her colonially based economies and political structures. The colonial political geography derives from the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, which laid down the rules for the European partition of the continent. What were drawn as colonial boundaries have survived the transition from colonies to independent states and, more surprisingly, 25 years of African independence. The boundaries themselves are only one aspect of Africa's inherited political geography. African states are territorially identical to the European colonies they replaced, for all their grotesque shapes and varied sizes. European colonialism lumped together peoples of diverse cultures and traditions, sometimes leading to secessionist movements and civil war. The creation of long and narrow states such as The Gambia and Togo meant that development concentrated on the short sea coast remote from up-country regions. Many African states are too small to make viable economic markets and are below the threshold of any possible industrialization. Others are so large and diverse that effective government becomes difficult. There are 14 landlocked states in Africa, more than in the rest of the world put together. They all face chronic problems of access varying according to local circumstance. Colonial capital cities located on coastal peripheries have become national capitals of independent states. Despite the obvious drawbacks of such an anomalous and anachronistic geographical framework, opportunities to change it have largely been ignored in post-independence Africa. Financial cost, vested interests, inertia and lack of perception have been inhibiting factors. The political geography of colonial Africa had a rationale rooted in colonialism itself but each aspect of it now presents modern Africa with problems which, taken in conjunction with inherited economic and political difficulties, severely impede progress towards complete independence. This lecture concentrates on international boundaries, arguably the fundamental ingredient in Africa's political geography. Boundaries collectively divide the continent into its many states and individually divide people. They are a source of international conflict and affect the spatial pattern of economic development.

An Introduction to Urban Geography

Abstract: This book, first published in 1984, is an attempt to make students aware of the variety in the urban condition and to introduce them to some of the relationships operating between space and society. From the broad aim of seeking to show the relationship between urbanism and society flows a number of sub-themes, including the importance of cross-cultural comparisons and contrasts, re-distributional consequences and the role of government. This book will be of interest to first- and second-year students of urban studies and human geography.

Agriculture : people and policies

Abstract: 1 The State and the Farmer: Perspectives on Agricultural Policy.- 2 Capitalism, Petty Commodity Production and the Farm Enterprise.- 3 Family Enterprises in Agriculture: Structural Limits and Political Possibilities.- 4 The Development of Family Farming in West Devon in the Nineteenth Century.- 5 Part-Time Farming: Its Place in the Structure of Agriculture.- 6 Small Scale Farming in the Northern Ireland Rural Economy.- 7 Landownership Relations and the Development of Modern British Agriculture.- 8 Property-State Relations in the 1980s: an Examination of Landlord-Tenant Legislation in British Agriculture.- 9 Investment Styles and Countryside Change in Lowland England.- 10 British Agriculture Under Attack.- 11 Agriculture and Conservation in Britain: a Policy Community Under Siege.- 12 Agricultural Policy and Party Politics in Post-War Britain.- List of Contributors.

Traditional agriculture and water use in the sokoto valley, nigeria

Abstract: This article describes the ecology of traditional agricultural practices in the floodplain of the River Sokoto in north-west Nigeria. The area lies in the Sudan savanna, and rain-fed agriculture is subject to periodic drought. Although river flow is also highly variable, both seasonally and between years, the floodplain represents a valuable agricultural resource. Floodplain hydrology is complicated, but surveys of flooding based on interviews with farmers, together with a study of cropping practices, reveal a complex and highly developed agriculture in the floodplain based on the cultivation of rice and sorghum varieties of known flood-tolerance. These wet-season crops are followed by vegetables grown in the dry season. Despite the sophistication and potential for development represented by the floodplain agriculture, official development has failed to capitalize upon it. Instead, attention has been focused on the development of a small area for irrigation. The Bakolori Dam, which supplies this scheme, has altered natural flooding patterns and disrupted the traditional cultivation over a wide area.

Shopping centre development : policies and prospects

Abstract: Drawing on material from throughout the developed world, this book examines and evaluates the effect of shopping centres on the environment of their host cities, identifying specific problems and analysing the success of control policies.

Famine as a geographical phenomenon

Abstract: Editorial: Famine as a Geographical Phenomenon.- The Demographic Impact of Famine.- War and Famine: The Example of Kampuchea.- Cycles of Famine in Islands of Plenty.- Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Famine in Southern India before the Famine Codes.- The Development of the Indian Famine Code.- Women in Famine.- Famine as a Spatial Crisis.- Famine Relief: Some Unanswered Questions from Africa.- Coping with Complexity in Food Crisis Management.

The Prospect For Desertification in Kajiado District, Kenya

Abstract: In Kajaido District Kenya the carrying capacity may soon be exceeded due to rapid population growth and land use changes leading to desertification. The major population affected is that of the Massai subsistence herdes who are restricted by the continuing expansion cultivation and are excluded from using Amboseli National Park during the dry seasons. The government of Kenya needs a development strategy which will promote and manage local activities to secure long-term economic growth and protection of resources. The focus of the article is to illuminate the processes which contribute to desertification and examine alternative strategies which reduce the negative impact. Desertification is not just related to drought conditions but is the inability of the environment to sustain the demands made on it by socioeconomic systems. The threshold conditions may be precipitated by adverse climatic changes; drought exacerbates existing degradation. Other conditions are situations in which cultivation moves into less human areas or areas must have been used by herders. In Kajiado District there is a shortage of land as well as inequalities in distribution. The physical and socioeconomic background of Kajiado District is described; also presented are land use patterns between 1900-63 and since independence. The drought of 1960-61 forced the government to sponsor rangeland development which resulted in group ranches for the Massai. The problem was that during the dry season and droughts resources within the ranches were insufficient. Land speculation patterns just before independence meant that the population moved onto the slopes of Ngong Hills and Mt. Kilimanjaro. During the drought years 1972-76 there was little reserve available due to overgrazing and expanded cultivation. As a result agricultural activities were intensified by reducing the fallow period and expanding into rangeland. The Maasai followed their traditional strategy and increased their herds. The implications are that people are vulnerable to environmental conditions and that rangeland capacity would be exceeded in 1984. With moderate to optimistic adjustments capacity would be exceeded in the period 1994-2035. Resources need to be developed outside the subsistence sector in order to reduce the number of people depending on subsistence production. Kajiado holds promise for managed development based on locally available skills.

The scott keltie report 1885 and the teaching of geography in great britain

Abstract: A DDRESSING THE GEOGRAPHICAL ASSOCIATION, as its President, in 1914, John Scott Keltie spoke of 'the crusade' which the Royal Geographical Society had begun 30 years before on behalf of 'the improvement and elevation of geography and a better recognition of the subject in education of all grades'. He was modest about his own role in the 'crusade'. 'I happened to be', he said, 'the fly on the wheel of the movement' (Keltie, 1914). Was he too modest? What was the real significance of his role? To answer such questions we must remind ourselves of the nature of the 'crusade' and of the Scott Keltie Report. But, first, at this Centennial Celebration of the publication of the Report in the RGS Supplementary Papers, 1886, let us recall John Scott Keltie himself. We shall have to forget that we are in Kensington Gore and imagine ourselves back in the increasingly overcrowded rooms of the Society in 1 Savile Row. Sir John Scott Keltie